The first class on Monday is English.
For the first time since his second year of high school, Zhang Zhaomu began to listen attentively to his English teacher's lectures. To be honest, although he tried very hard to understand, he didn't recognize most of the vocabulary that second-year high school students should have mastered.
Not to mention grammar and tenses.
This made it impossible for Zhang Zhaomu to enter the focused state he could easily immerse himself in during morning self-study.
"It seems that I'm still unable to keep up with the teacher's pace at this stage."
Zhang Zhaomu wasn't rigid; if he couldn't understand it, there was no need to waste time listening to the lectures step by step.
"For English, we should start with vocabulary. We need to not only memorize it, but also be able to listen and speak it... Maybe I can find some listening materials to practice more. As for speaking... Xiang Qing's English grades should be pretty good, so we can practice together?"
He finally turned his head to look at Xiang Qing beside him.
Then I noticed that the other person was acting strangely, with an awkward sitting posture, their long legs tightly pressed together, and they were slightly biting their lower lip, looking like they were sitting on pins and needles.
This is unlike Xiang Qing at all.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Zhaomu asked in a low voice, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Xiang Qing trembled slightly, as if startled, before turning her head to meet Zhang Zhaomu's gaze.
"N-nothing... it's nothing." Her voice was a little high-pitched than usual, her gaze wandered, and a blush unconsciously crept onto her fair and delicate earlobes.
"You don't look like you're alright," Zhang Zhaomu said.
"It's... it's..."
The blush on Xiang Qing's earlobes began to spread down her cheeks. She stammered a few words and awkwardly changed the subject:
" Zhang Zhaomu... why are you studying today?"
"I just suddenly realized that what you said last time made a lot of sense."
Zhang Zhaomu naturally wouldn't say it was because she was playing the " Academic Ace " role this week, so she casually made up a reason. "Anyway, I'm usually bored in class, so I might as well give it a try."
"Then I discovered that learning can actually be quite interesting."
Xiang Qing opened her mouth. "Studying... is interesting?"
She never imagined she would hear such words from Zhang Zhaomu's mouth.
In reality, although she studied very hard, she didn't find studying interesting at all.
This is simply something that must be done.
"That's right," Zhang Zhaomu said. "Studying is actually similar to the underlying logic of playing games. Just like memorizing a word can increase your experience points, and when you accumulate enough experience points, you can level up. Exams are like ranking matches; the higher the level, the higher the score, and the higher the score, the higher your ranking in school."
Zhang Zhaomu became more and more excited as he spoke, "If this simulation goes like this, becoming the top student in the grade and reaching the top of Xinxi No. 1 High School is equivalent to achieving a county-level ranking. After that, we'll face the city-level, provincial-level, and the ultimate goal is to obtain the national standard, even the national standard!"
"Even if you reach that point, the game isn't over. Even if you achieve the national championship, it's only an achievement at the high school level. When you get to university, you'll find you've just left the beginner's village and entered a new map where Academic Ace are as rare as dogs, and prodigies are everywhere..."
Xiang Qing tried hard to listen, but the more she listened, the more confused she became, completely unable to understand what Zhang Zhaomu was excited about.
What's so interesting about that?
Moreover, Xiang Qing's eyes began to glaze over, and she squeezed her legs together, trying to suppress the urge to defecate.
If only I had gone to the bathroom during my early morning break... I didn't expect it to come so suddenly and so irrationally.
Should I tell the teacher? But... this is just too embarrassing!
Zhang Zhaomu talked on and on for quite a while before finally noticing that Xiang Qing hadn't replied for a long time.
"Your complexion looks worse than before?" He stared at her, frowning.
"I'm... really fine..." Xiang Qing practically spat out the words through clenched teeth.
"I'm in so much pain I can't even speak!" Zhang Zhaomu raised his hand and touched Xiang Qing's smooth forehead.
"Eek--" Xiang Qing let out a soft cry reflexively.
The first time a boy touched her, she felt a conditioned reflex of nervousness, which almost caused her to lose control of her stomach. She quickly clutched her stomach and curled up into a tense position.
"She doesn't seem to have a fever." Seeing her reaction, Zhang Zhaomu frowned even more deeply. "Is it... a stomachache?"
Xiang Qing was unable to answer, struggling to resist her body's instincts.
Zhang Zhaomu thought for a moment, then raised his hand.
This action naturally attracted the attention of the English teacher, who stopped lecturing and looked over. " Zhang Zhaomu, is there a problem?"
The English teacher had a deep impression of the class monitor of Class 9, Liberal Arts, not only because he was almost the student she had ever seen who slept the most unrestrainedly in her class, but also because of the rumors about him at school.
A student actually started an image consulting business on campus, and the results were astonishing... As a woman herself, she was very curious and wanted him to give her a makeover, but unfortunately, on the one hand, as a teacher, she was too embarrassed to ask, and on the other hand, she heard that he only took three clients a week, and if people wanted to see him, the line would probably be open until he graduated from high school.
"Teacher, Xiang Qing doesn't seem to be feeling well," Zhang Zhaomu said, standing up.
The English teacher turned her gaze to Xiang Qing.
Another student who left a deep impression on her was the only one in Class 9 of the humanities stream, a class where all the teachers tacitly agreed that discipline could be relaxed.
Even the English teacher felt that Xiang Qing was not suitable to stay in this class.
Unfortunately, I heard that her parents had a bit of a disagreement with the school over the class transfer, so the matter has been put on hold for now.
" Xiang Qing, where do you feel unwell?" she asked.
Xiang Qing slowly stood up, clutching her stomach, her face flushed, unable to speak.
The English teacher immediately understood and said, " Zhang Zhaomu, as the class monitor, why don't you take Xiang Qing to the school clinic? Do you know where it is?"
"I know, teacher." Zhang Zhaomu nodded.
Then he turned to Xiang Qing and asked in a low voice, "Can you walk? Do you need me to help you?"
"No... no need!" Xiang Qing quickly shook her head and awkwardly walked out of the classroom.
The location of Class 9 in the humanities stream, which was previously criticized for being close to the toilets, actually saved Xiang Qing's life this time.
After leaving the classroom through the back door, she turned right and went into the girls' restroom. Only then did she belatedly realize that Zhang Zhaomu had also left the classroom with her, and that she seemed to have forgotten to tell Zhang Zhaomu beforehand.
Will he think I'm being too rude?